


There Are Flowers In My Lungs, I Can't Breathe

by sweetiedarling



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Adopted Sibling Relationship, Angst, Good Brother Number Five | The Boy (Umbrella Academy), Hanahaki Disease, M/M, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-07
Updated: 2020-03-07
Packaged: 2020-12-28 23:14:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21144824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sweetiedarling/pseuds/sweetiedarling
Summary: There are flowers filling up his lungs and climbing up his windpipe, and he's leant over the toilet bowl, coughing them up. They won't stop, no matter how much he begs for air.





	There Are Flowers In My Lungs, I Can't Breathe

**Author's Note:**

> Me: finish the fics you've already started, woman! 
> 
> Also me: okay, but what it-
> 
> This story is now also posted on Wattpad under the same username, as of 07/11/2019

He'd only just made it out of the disgusting motel room with his kidnappers' briefcase. Ben was beside him as he boarded the bus in just his bloody towel and coat. His brother was beside him when he opened the latches on the briefcase, hoping it was money or something of the like. He wasn't beside him when Klaus was suddenly transported back in time, via the briefcase, to the Vietnam War.

And fuck, if Klaus was confused. 

His head hurt, as if it'd just been emptied of its contents and then refilled. He barely had time to think of that, though, as he met eyes with the most handsome man he had ever seen. And then something exploded and there was shouting, and orders being tossed about, people were shoving clothes into his hands and-

Fuck. 

It was barely a week before he realised he had fallen hard in love with the handsome guy he came face to face with seconds after travelling to Vietnam. His name was Dave Katz and he was... he was perfect. He was everything Klaus liked. Funny, kind, attractive, and so much more.

Klaus had never believed in love at first sight. He used to make jokes about it when he was a kid. He would find some random face in the crowd post-mission and joke to his siblings that he had fallen in love. They would either shake their head in annoyance or allow a smirk to grace their lips, trying not to laugh with him. 

Now, though, fifty years in the past and fighting in a war he didn't belong in, he knew what people meant when they spoke about love at first sight because he was experiencing it first hand. His heart would skip a beat every time Dave spoke to him and he would deny it till his dying day, but he definitely stuttered once or twice when he asked him a question.

He wasn't stupid, though. He knew that the time period he was in didn't accept same sex couples or marriages. And he knew that Dave didn't approve of them either. From what Klaus had learned, the man had been brought up in a very religious household under the impression that gay people were wrong, that they were sinners. And that hurt more than anything Klaus had ever experienced because he was infatuated.

So whenever Dave or any of the other men he was serving with made any kind of joke that suggested being gay was wrong, he would quietly laugh along whilst ignoring the uncomfortable sensation brewing in his chest.

Logically, he should have left and saved himself the heartbreak, but he couldn't. He couldn't leave Dave, his best friend. He would never be able to forgive himself if he had to live with the knowledge that he'd picked up the stupid briefcase and gone back home, thus abandoning him.

So, he stayed. He stayed and he fought in a war he didn't belong in alongside Dave and the rest of the soldiers, and when he started to fall even further in love and began coughing up petals, a clear sign of the hanahaki disease, he cried. He cried longer and harder than he'd ever cried before and then didn't mention it when someone knocked on the door to ask him if he was okay.

A week later, Dave was dead. He was shot in the chest and bled out in Klaus' arms. No matter how much Klaus screamed and cried for a medic, none came. And when he began to violently cough up blood red petals over Dave's bleeding chest, still no medic arrived. The coughing fit was over a minute later and Klaus was able to gulp in gunpowder filled breaths.

No matter how much he wanted to die in that moment, he survived. He and the remaining living soldiers retreated, their men dropping like flies against the enemy.

As soon as they arrived back at camp, Klaus stumbled over to his cot, reached under the bed and retrieved the stolen briefcase. After making sure he was alone, he managed to unlock the clasps and he was gone in a whirl of blue. He didn't care where he ended up, as long as he was no longer there. 

Unfortunately for him, he reappeared on the same bus he'd ridden when he first went back in time. He thought there was a man in a seat near him, watching him with confusion, but he couldn't put thoughts together properly. He just wanted to get off of the suffocating bus and destroy the briefcase that ruined his life.

When the bus came to a screeching stop, Klaus stumbled off the bus and let out a sob. He couldn't hold it together anymore. He stormed over to the nearest bench and began beating it with the briefcase. His bloody fingers flashed into view several times before he threw the suitably battered briefcase as far as he could. As he fell to his knees, coughing up more petals, the briefcase burst into flames.

... 

"Where have you been?" Was the first thing Klaus heard as he turned on the faucets to get a bath.

He turned slightly and spotted Ben in front of the closed bathroom door. He looked back to watch the bathtub fill. Usually he would squirt in some bubbles or use one of Allison's bathbombs, but right now he didn't have the energy.

Klaus shrugged in reply, dipping his bloody hand into the warm water. Blood started dissolving and flaking off of his fingers and knuckles, dyeing the water red. It reminded him of Dave. 

A cough escaped him and he pulled out a single red petal from his mouth before he could choke on it. He held it in front of him and examined the result of the disease that had been plaguing him since he met Dave.

"Is that...?" Ben inquired quietly.

"Leave me alone," Klaus rasped, voice hoarse from screaming for a medic not even a day ago.

There was a sigh from Ben and the sound of ghostly footsteps receding. Finally alone, Klaus tossed the petal to the floor and began stripping to get in the bath.

...

When he returned to his room, wearing just his leather pants, a sudden itchiness ran up his back, and he found himself scratching it as much as he could. He shivered a moment. later, seeming to find the right spot.

"You did it, didn't you?" Five's voice reached his ears, and Klaus sighed once again at the appearance of one of his brothers. He didn't have time for the little psycho and his apocalypse bullshit.

"What?" Klaus asked, turning to face the thirteen year old stood in the doorway of his room.

"You time travelled," Five stated plainly.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Klaus denied, doing his best to block any memories of Dave.

"I can recognise the symptoms," Five said, "the jet lag, the itching all over, the feeling that someone has shoved a box of cotton through your nose and into your brain."

Klaus sighed heavily and sat down on the end of his bed, putting his head into his hands. He wasn't in the mood to entertain a full conversation with the little psycho in front of him- luckily (or unluckily) for him, the boy continued without prompting.

"You gonna tell me about it?" Five asked.

Something bitter crept up into his stomach and he looked up at Five.

"Your pals, when they broke into the house and couldn't find you, they took me hostage instead," Klaus informed him with a frown.

Unfortunately, at this Five merely looked smug. He smirked and began pacing.

"And in return you stole their briefcase," he concluded.

Klaus nodded with a sigh. Apparently it was too much to ask for his brother to ask him how he was after getting kidnapped and accidentally time travelling.

"Yeah, I thought there was money in it or I could pawn it, or something," Klaus agreed, "and when I opened it-"

"-and the next thing you were, where? Or should I say when?" Five interrupted, turning to him.

"What does it matter?" Klaus muttered miserably, pushing down more memories of Dave and the brewing feeling of his new predicament.

They were determined, but he managed to choke them back down.

"What- it-" Five stuttered then shook his head, "okay, how long were you gone?"

"Almost a year," Klaus smiled.

"A year? Do you know what this means?"

"Yeah, I'm ten months older now."

"No. This isn't a joke, Klaus," Five chastisted him, "Hazel and Cha-Cha will do whatever they can to get that briefcase back. Where is it now?"

"Gone. I destroyed it," Klaus shrugged, "poof."

Five clenched his jaw, staring at him. He leant forward, as if he couldn't decide whether or not he wanted to strangle Klaus.

"What the hell were you thinking?" He grit out angrily.

"What do you care?" Klaus demanded.

"What do I care? I needed it, you moron, so I could get back and start over!"

Klaus rolled his eyes with yet another sigh and got up from the edge of the bed. He covered a cough with the back of his hand. He wasn't enjoying all this talk about time travel, it was making his chest play up and he knew what that meant. He didn't want to think about Dave because that would only make his heart hurt and petals travel up his windpipe to suffocate him to death.

Then again, maybe that would be a good thing. At least then he'd be with Dave. 

Klaus waved his hand dismissively at Five, walking past him out of the room.

"Where are you going?"

"Interrogation's over, just lea-"

Klaus hunched over, feeling the petals crawling their way up his chest and towards his windpipe once again. He wheezed and managed a cough, bringing some further up and to his mouth so he could breathe a bit better, but they kept coming. 

"Klaus?" Five asked, sounding more like the boy Klaus remembered from his youth than the sixty year old man he actually was. "Are you okay, buddy?"

The nickname sounded a bit forced, as if he were going out of his way to be nice, but couldn't quite handle it.

Klaus waved his hand again, telling him he was fine, but then he fell to his knees, unable to stand any longer. The first petal tumbled past his lips and fell to the floor, coated in his saliva and glistening in the low light of the hallway. Klaus could see Five's feet in his peripheral vision, but the boy was silent.

Then he was gone in a flash and Klaus was left alone to cough up his feelings.

When it was over a few minutes later, Klaus took a moment to gather his breath and then gathered the petals up off the floor. He crossed the hall to the bathroom and flushed them down the toilet, getting rid of any evidence of his turmoil.

Sniffling, he exited the bathroom and stalked through the house. On his way, he spotted Pogo fixing Grace or upgrading her. Something of the like. He wanted to stay and ask if his mother was okay, but instead he turned away and continued down the staircase.

At the bottom of the stairs, the chandelier was on the floor and he could only assume it was a result of the assassins breaking in. He hoped his siblings were all right. 

Diego rounded the corner and Klaus perked up slightly. 

Somehow, he managed to worm his way into getting a ride from Diego. He didn't know why his brother never just told him no or kicked him out whenever he climbed into the passenger seat without asking, but hey, who was he to complain?

After grabbing his coat and a bottle of vodka, Klaus made himself comfortable in the passenger seat of Diego's car, leaning his head on the window. He didn't know where Diego was going or if he was going to meet that lady cop friend of his, but it didn't matter. As long as he wasn't at home where his dad's shadow and strict voice hung over every move he made. And it was too quiet, anyway. He couldn't stand the quiet; that just left room for thinking, and right now, he couldn't afford to think.

They were driving for no more than ten minutes before Diego broke the silence. It was unusual for the pair of them to sit alone in silence. Any other day, Klaus would be talking away about anything and everything, but, predictably, he was in no mood for conversation. He just wanted company.

"You okay?" Diego asked, looking away from the road for just a second to glance at him.

Klaus didn't answer, bringing the vodka up to his mouth and taking a swig. It burned his tongue and his throat, and built up a warmth in his chest as it made its way down to his stomach.

"Well, this is a first," Diego continued, "my brother Klaus is silent. Last time you were this quiet, we were twelve. Tripped down the stairs wearing Grace's heels, broke your jaw."

Klaus winced at the memory. 'Tripped' was one word for it. He hadn't tripped at all. Though, at the time, he hadn't been able to tell them that, what with his jaw wired shut, and by the time it had healed, he'd forgotten almost completely that he hadn't tripped in the first place.

Dear ol' dad didn't take kindly to his boys wearing girls' clothing.

"How long was it wired shut, again?" Diego asked.

"Eight weeks," Klaus replied dutifully after a moment's thought.

"Eight glorious weeks of bliss."

Something outside just down the road caught Klaus' eye and he straightened up slightly. He motioned to Diego.

"Hey, just drop me off here," he requested.

Diego turned into a parking space and parked the car for him and sat back as Klaus unbuckled himself and clambered out of the car, unsteady on his feet. 

As he closed the door, he heard Diego ask him if he was okay, but he let the question go unanswered as he shoved the vodka into his coat and stumbled inside of the VFW bar. Technically he should be allowed in there, so screw anyone who thought otherwise.

He shook himself out of his faux fur coat and placed it on the bar, allowing himself a moment to just breathe. The music playing in the background was soothing and he let it wash over him and calm his nerves as he grabbed a shot glass and helped himself to some alcohol. There was no one behind the bar anyway, so why not?

After downing the shot, he looked around the bar. 

There were tables spread out across the room, it was kind of dim, but in a good way. There was a pool table where a couple of vets were playing against each other. The chatter was lively and happy. Off to his left, a table of more vets were looking at him, but he ignored them in favour of spotting a board across the room from the bar.

Pinned to the board were several pictures and he straightened up, managing to stumble his way over to them. 

One picture in particular caught his eye when he stopped in front of the board. It was hard to miss when he recognised it. He was in that picture along with the rest of the men he served with, including Dave.

Tears welled in his eyes as he brought his hands up to where he and Dave stood at the back of the photo, smiles on their faces and just happy to be there, despite the circumstances under which they were.

"Dave," he whispered, gently touching the man's face.

The sound of bombs whistling as they fell to the earth eachoed inside his skull, so realistic that they could have been falling right where he was in the present. He pursed his lips to bite back sobs, his head tilting towards the photograph on the wall. His breath hitched with the sobs he held in.

A grounding hand clasped his shoulder and he startled, shaken out of his memories. He turned around enough to see who it was and sigh. Diego stood just behind him, his hand on his shoulder.

"Just go away, please," he asked of his brother.

"Not until you talk to me," Diego said.

"Is that a threat? Are you threatening me?"

There was no time for Diego to reply because a new voice joined in. Klaus tilted his head back in annoyance. 

"Hey, guys," new voice announced, "this bar, it's for vets only."

"I am a vet," Klaus said, not even bothering to turn around. He'd rather stay facing Dave's face on the photograph than whoever it was that thought it was a good idea to interrupt his grieving.

"Really?" The guy chuckled. "And where'd you serve?"

"None of your business."

"You've got balls coming in here pretending you're one of us," the vet told him.

Finally, Klaus turned around, the choking feeling beginning to rear its head. He needed something else to focus on otherwise he was going to start coughing his guts up on the shiny, hardwood floors. 

"I have every right to be here just like you, asshole," he snapped.

The vet straightened up and took a step forward, clearly intending to punch him, but Diego stepped in, calming the man before he could.

"Slow down, marine. Look, my brother's just had a bit to drink. Let's just call it a day, all go our own way?" Diego reasoned.

"Sure thing," the vet said.

Diego nodded and turned to Klaus, but the vet continued. 

"As long as you apologise," he said.

Klaus couldn't help but giggle. Apologise for what? He hadn't done anything wrong. Like he'd said, he had every right to be there.

"Fine," Diego said, "I'm sorry, he's sorry, we're all sorry, are we good?"

"I wanna hear _him_ say it," the man jabbed a finger at Klaus.

"Hey, man-" Diego tried, but Klaus cut over him.

"No, no, no, he's right, Diego," he said sarcastically. He put his hand over his heart dramatically, slowly making his way towards the vet, "I'd like to apologise... that you are depriving some village of their _idiot_!"

He shouted the last part and only just managed to duck out of the way of the vet's swinging fist. He quickly recovered despite the copious amounts of vodka he'd drank on the way over, and swung his head back then brought it forward where he made contact with the man's forehead.

More men stepped forward, ready to defend the vet who'd just been hit to the floor, but Diego and Klaus were ready. They'd practically trained their whole life for this, really. Klaus jumped on the back of a vet who was going for Diego, whilst the latter knocked down any vet who came for them.

... 

Back inside Diego's car parked outside of another building, Klaus chuckled. He thought back to one cocky vet who'd thought he could get the upper hand on him and Diego. Well, who's laughing now?

"You got a big mouth, you know that?" Diego said.

"Wow, what a truly shocking revelation," Klaus joked, pulling out a plastic baggie from his coat pocket.

He couldn't even get it open before Diego reached over and snatched it out of hands in annoyance, telling him to stop. Klaus hit his hands on his legs, pouting.

"Why are you putting this shit in your body?" Diego demanded.

Klaus just shrugged, huffing.

"Check this out," Diego gestured to his abdomen and tapped it a couple of times, "my body is a temple."

Klaus reached into his back pocket as Diego talked, completely uninterested.

"All that shit you do is just weakness." 

"Wow," Klaus drawled, "weakness feels so good."

Before he could even look at the baggie he'd retrieved from his pocket, Diego hit him upside the head.

"What's going on with you?" He snapped.

Klaus hit him back. 

"Don't hit me, asshole!"

"Don't tell me everything's all right because I saw you in there- you were crying like a baby!"

"Because I lost someone!" Klaus shouted back, defensive.

Diego's face fell and he sat back. Something akin to understanding flashed across his features before he was back to looking stoic and listening to Klaus.

"I lost someone; the only person I've ever truly loved more than myself," Klaus admitted.

It felt good to get it off his chest, for someone else to know what he was going through, for someone to know how heartbroken he was.

Tears sprang to his eyes at the thought of Dave and he swallowed down the feeling of the petals. It seemed he would never be able to think about Dave without the constant choking feeling that was his stupid new disease. Well, he wouldn't call it a disease because it was a byproduct of his love for Dave and anything that had anything to do with Dave couldn't be called a disease. It was more of a predicament than a disease, he decided.

"Klaus," Diego caught his attention again, "hey, man, are you all right?"

Klaus tried to speak but realised he couldn't. He was choking once again. Instead, he nodded his head and tried to swallow back the petals. They wouldn't go down.

"Hey, hey," Diego leant over and clapped him on the back, obviously sensing that he was choking on something.

Shaking his head, Klaus coughed a few times and then he had a lap full of crimson petals. He coughed again and more petals spilled from his lips. There was one stuck in the back of his throat so he reached down and managed to grab it with his middle and forefinger. He brought it out, making a face at the taste of the plant, and deposited it in his lap with the rest of the petals.

Able to breathe again, he took in a big lungful of air and let it out in a sigh. He wiped away the tears from his little choking session and coughed again to get rid of the sore feeling in his throat.

"What the fuck, man?" Diego asked.

Klaus looked up, suddenly remembering he wasn't alone.

"Oh, right," he said, more to himself than Diego.

"Is that...?" Diego left the question hanging, but Klaus knew what he meant.

"Yeah," Klaus sighed.

"How long?"

Klaus shrugged.

"How long?" Diego demanded again.

"A week, maybe two. I don't know."

"Why the hell didn't you say anything, Klaus, you're dying!" Diego snapped at him.

Klaus merely shrugged, didn't mention the fact that maybe that was exactly why he didn't say anything. Maybe he just wanted to be with Dave, no matter how he achieved that. If he were to die because of his love for him, well, that would only be fitting.

"I'm taking you to a hospital," Diego said and began to start the car.

"No!" Klaus exclaimed before he could stop himself.

Diego looked at him, mildly startled.

"You're dying, Klaus, don't tell me 'no'."

"I'm _fine_," Klaus rebuffed.

"Yeah? Then what's that?" Diego pointed towards the pile of wet petals sitting innocently in his lap. 

"Nothing," Klaus said, "look, I don't want to go a hospital. I'll be fine." 

Diego opened his mouth to say something, but Klaus shook his head.

"Fine," he sighed, "but if it starts getting worse, you come tell me immediately, okay?"

"I'll be fine," Klaus shook his head, "I just have to... not think about him. I'll be fine."

"It doesn't work like that and you know it," Diego sighed and started up the car.

Klaus did know that, unfortunately. And besides, he didn't think he could live the rest of his life not thinking about Dave.

...

The next week was strenuous. It was jammed with toilet bowls filled with red petals and choking at inconvenient times. By now, all of his siblings knew of his condition. To be honest, he was getting sick of their pitying looks, their private conversations with him, hoping to convince him to go to a hospital lest he die.

No matter how hard he tried, it seemed he couldn't convince them that he didn't want to be saved. He just wanted to see Dave and he couldn't do that on Earth. He'd tried a few times over the course of the week to get sober, but it was too hard. He'd spent the past decade high as a kite and now he was trying to quit the drugs and alcohol. It wasn't working; he craved the drugs too much, which obviously meant that the only way he could see Dave was by dying, so that's what he was going to let happen.

And, again, it was only fitting that his death should be a result of his love for Dave.

Along with his siblings finding out about his condition, they'd somehow managed to prevent the apocalypse by coming together and bonding over how save him. That had been a long meeting that Klaus only wished to escape from.

But, somehow, according to Five, they'd managed to prevent the apocalypse and it had something to do with their bonding session.

Plus, Vanya actually had powers and had always had them, if dad's notebooks were to be believed. And gullible, little Seven's boyfriend was apparently a killer. He'd killed his dad at a young age and had spent years in prison before being released not long before Reginald's death. Thankfully, though, he and the others managed to get through to Vanya and make her realise the kind of man she was dating.

So, it had been a long week. A very long week. Klaus had, had week long parties that weren't as eventful as the week he'd just had.

Unfortunately, over the course of the week, despite preventing the apocalypse, the petals had been getting more and more common, the gaps between choking getting less and less whether he was thinking of Dave or not. It seemed he couldn't go five minutes without coughing up petals. He wondered how long now before he would suffocate, would collapse to the floor and choke to death.

His siblings kept giving him concerned looks when they thought he wasn't paying attention.

Klaus sighed and stretched. He was lay on the couch in the living room with Ben sat through his feet reading some book. Diego had gone somewhere about half an hour ago, Five was holed up in his room doing science-y stuff, Vanya was doing whatever it was she did when she wasn't training her powers or playing the violin, and Allison and Luther were in the back yard tending to the vegetables Luther had taken to growing.

Klaus was quite bored, to be honest, sitting around doing nothing. He couldn't talk to Ben either because, despite the ghost making himself comfortable sitting through Klaus' feet, he was still mad at Klaus for not letting their siblings help him.

Sighing once more, Klaus swung his legs over the edge of the couch, ignoring the pain springing up in his chest, and got up. Ben watched him as he stood and stretched his arms high above his head, his back arched.

Once he'd stretched, he decided to find one of his siblings and bother them for a bit, just to sway his bordom. That said, he left the room.

On his way to the stairs, he heard Grace humming idly to herself from the kitchen. After the whole apocalypse fiasco, she had been retrieved successfully from the rubble by himself, Luther, and Diego. Somehow, she wasn't too damaged, thus, they were able to refer to Reginald's journals as they repaired any damage caused. As soon as she was up and working again, Vanya had apologised incessantly to her, but Grace merely smiled at her and asked her if she wanted some cookies.

Shaking his head free of thoughts of Grace's programmed kindness, he began to trek up the stairs towards Five's room. The boy (man, he corrected himself) could really do with a distraction.

Klaus was half way up the stairs when he felt a tickle in his chest. He sighed in annoyance at the inconvenient timing and rubbed his chest. It didn't go away, as expected, and a second later, his lungs and windpipe were filling with silky petals.

He wheezed and then began coughing and choking, his eyes watering and stinging. His head hurt with the lack of oxygen and it felt like his throat was being torn open the more he coughed. He managed to bring up one or two bloody petals which fell to the floor innocently, but the rest wouldn't leave his windpipe. _This is it then,_ he thought.

He fell to the step he was stood on, unable to stand anymore, one hand clutching his chest, the other grabbing hold of the carpeted step. The petals grew in number, completely blocking his windpipe.

Spots clouded his vision along with his tears, and he was sure he could hear someone in the background shouting his name, telling him to get some help or manifest him. Ben, he realised. He wanted to tell his brother that he literally couldn't do either of those things right now, and he didn't want to, but he was choking, so he couldn't do that either.

The darkness grew like a blanket and a second later, he wheezed one last time and collapsed.

Finally.

...

At the sound of coughing and hacking nearby, Five sighed in annoyance. Klaus. The stupid man refused to let them help him, preferring to choke to death on his love for another than to accept help. He wondered who it was that was able to capture Klaus' heart so tightly that his brother didn't want to let go. It must have been someone special, he thought as his eyes flickered to Delores.

A minute later the coughing was still audible, but sounding more struggled. Five furrowed his brows and slowly placed down his pen, concern brewing within him. He turned his head towards the door, listening more carefully. And, yes, it sounded like his brother was really struggling to breathe now.

Getting up, Five wasted no time in warping space and reappearing beside where the noise was coming from. He stepped out of his portal right at the top of the stairs, where he noticed Klaus sat on them, coughing up nothing. There was a couple of lone petals on the step in front of him, speckled with blood, but beside that, nothing was coming out.

Knowing that this was now literally life or death, he jumped away towards the kitchen where he ordered Grace to get the infirmary ready because Klaus was dying. Her smile fell and she began hurrying away to do as told, but Five paid that no mind as he jumped once more into the garden and told Luther to get inside and carry Klaus to the infirmary.

He didn't wait to hear whatever Luther and Allison were going to say because he jumped once again to where Klaus now lay unconscious on the steps, wheezing as he tried to take on air.

Grimacing, Five regretted every decision that ever led up to this moment as he plunged two fingers down Klaus' throat and began pulling out bloody petals until Luther arrived.

Number One strode up to him and Klaus half a minute later, hands and outfit covered in mud. Five removed his hand from Klaus' mouth, pulling out one more petal. He stepped away and wiped his bloody hand on his blazer, letting Luther pick Klaus up. Allison stood behind him, hand over her mouth and tears in her eyes. Her throat was still healing from the trauma it had experienced, but Five could tell she wanted to say something.

With Klaus now in Luther's arms, Five jumped away to wait impatiently in the infirmary. As he did, he informed Grace of the situation and what Klaus needed. His mother frowned sympathetically and set up the oxygen for when Klaus arrived.

Allison came into the room hurriedly, holding the door open for Luther and Klaus. Luther ambled inside and placed Klaus on the bed surprisingly gently for a man of his stature.

With that done, Grace told them they would all need to leave the room as she needed to perform surgery. Five tried not to wince at that, but somehow the expression managed to make its way onto his face anyway.

As Grace fitted an oxygen tube and began removing the petals Five hadn't been able to get with a pair of surgical tweezers, Five jumped away to go and inform Diego and Vanya of what had happened. As he lifted his hand to knock on Vanya's door, he wondered what might have happened if he'd ignored the coughing as just another unimportant fit. Would Klaus be dead? Would someone else have found him collapsed and unbreathing on the stairs where he'd fallen down?

The door opened to reveal Vanya wearing a large polo shirt, jeans, and a cardigan over her shirt. She looked comfortable, and judging by the steaming hot cocoa he could see perched on her desk, she probably had been. Nonetheless, she greeted Five with a smile.

"Hey, Five," she said, "what's up?"

"Klaus in the infirmary," he told her, wasting no time.

Her face fell and her eyes widened slightly.

"What? How? Why?" She fretted, stepping out of the room, clearly intending to head down to the infirmary.

"His disease," Five reported, "he collapsed on the stairs due to lack of oxygen, as far as I could tell. He suffocated."

At the look of sheer horror on Vanya's face, he quickly continued.

"Fortunately, I found him in time and Grace is now performing surgery to help him."

"Poor Klaus," Vanya breathed sadly, one hand covering her mouth.

"Indeed," Five nodded, "though he should be okay as soon as Grace is finished, and we'll be able to visit him."

Vanya nodded her own head, a sigh escaping her.

"I just don't get why he wouldn't let us help him in the first place," Vanya admitted.

"I believe I can answer that. The person he loved, whoever that is, is dead," Five said, "and, unable to get sober and see them, Klaus decided the next best way to see them again, was to die."

"Love does funny things to the mind," Vanya muttered.

Five nodded, trying not to think of forty years spent in the apocalypse without his siblings, only to travel back in time to save them.

...

Once Diego was informed and all of the siblings knew of what had happened, they all silently agreed to gather in the living room. There wasn't much conversation between them, the atmosphere too upsetting to talk to one another, but the way Allison wrapped an arm around Vanya in a show of comfort and the way Diego nodded to Luther unseen to anyone else spoke more words than they physically could.

They all waited imaptiently for almost three and a half hours. As soon as Grace stepped into the living room, they all scrambled up and rushed to stand in front of her, waiting to know if Klaus was all right.

Grace smiled warmly at them all.

"Klaus made it through surgery and is resting. You may all go and see him now," she told them happily and held an arm out towards the infirmary.

It was almost comical the way the siblings all rushed out of the living room and towards the infirmary, and the way Five ended up simply jumping in order to get there first and see how Klaus was without the others breathing down his neck.

When he reappeared in the infirmary, the sight of Klaus, paler than usual and with a breathing tube in his nose, gave him pause. He didn't know exactly what he'd been expecting, but this wasn't it.

Five slowly stepped forward and peeled back the sheet a little. On the left side of his abdomen, where his lung was, was a scar. That would be where Grace had cut him open to remove that plant sitting on a silver tray to his right. Replacing the sheet, he stepped up to the tray and examined the plant.

It was innocent looking, as if it hadn't just almost killed his brother. The way the plant had grown was similar to the shape of a lung. Of Klaus' lung. There were still a few flower buds on the branches, but most of them had lost their petals. It was almost like it was a sandtimer, counting down the seconds until Klaus ultimately suffocated.

Suddenly, startling him out of his thought process on the plant, his siblings all barged into the room. Luther, thankfully knowing better, had been pushed to the back whilst Diego and Vanya were right at the front. Grace calmly entered the room a short moment later as the others were all gathering around Klaus.

Diego looked up from Klaus' unmoving face and turned to Grace. 

"Is that it, then? Is he okay now?" He asked.

"Of course. He is perfectly healthy. Klaus dear has always been a little fighter," Grace chirped, brushing a strand of curly hair from Klaus' forehead.

"So, no more choking on petals?" Vanya prompted hopefully.

"Nope!"

There was a collective sigh of relief and Five, admittedly more at ease now, turned back to the plant. It was strange how loving someone so much could cause a plant to grow inside your lung as a reminder that you would never be loved back. And it was unfortunate that Klaus had felt this. That he had loved someone, only to lose them and decide that dying was the best way to see them again.

He turned to look at Klaus, laying prone on the bed.

Love does funny things to the mind, indeed.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed :p
> 
> Feel free to leave a comment or a kudos because it makes me feel better about my work :) x


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